About the Devotional
Suffering. War. Poverty. Sickness. Death. Fear. Grief. The world Jesus was born into was marred by the same exhaustion and weariness as ours. God’s people cried out for mercy, deliverance, and redemption, much as we do. God chose to join us in our weary world and brought good news of great joy for all people. God showed up.
As the season of Advent returns, we’re invited to rejoice again in the good news of Emmanuel, God with us. But how do we find joy in the midst of our weary world? We begin by acknowledging our weariness. We discover joy in our connection with God and others. We allow ourselves to be amazed by God’s surprising arrival in our lives. We sing stories of hope. Oh how we need to sing! And we make room for the God who chooses to dwell among us.
We have designed this Advent devotional to help you prepare for the celebration of God’s arrival and the return of Jesus Christ for the renewal of all things. Each week will have its own section with a theme, and each day, except Sunday, will include a Scripture passage and a reflection created by one of our own Gathering Church folks.
We hope this Advent devotional encourages our community to hold space for both our weariness and our joy, imagine ways to practice joy in a weary world, and remember that our joy comes from knowing we are beloved and belong to God.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope - the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn! O Holy Night
— Pastor Curt Lowndes
Artist Statement
My hope is that these small pieces will serve as doorways into the scriptures and the devotionals written by members of our church family.
The desert is an abstract piece calling to mind dryness and our heart's thirst for God. It is interesting to me that when we read of John's call to prepare the way for the Messiah, it is from the desert that he speaks of our need for a redeemer.
I noticed as I was making the art, the contrast between our very weak and human state and the overwhelming beauty and holiness of God that is displayed as he breaks into our world to announce the birth of Jesus. I tried to depict some of that wonder and beauty in both the image of Gabriel and in the Christmas night sky that held the army of angels that came to the shepherds and the guiding star that led the wise men to the young child.
In the drawing of a young, pregnant Mary I wanted to focus on her love for God and her intimate worship of him. I drew her holding the rose, which is often associated with Mary, and a palm. It was only after I had finished the drawing that I looked up the meaning of the palm, and found that it symbolizes the victory of the faithful over the enemies of the soul, another beautiful reference to our redemption.
The first three pieces are collage, using handmade paper, rice paper and tissue paper. The night sky is ink on handmade rag paper, and the dance of Mary is ink and watercolor pencil on paper.
— Anna Sircar
